“ ..and when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb,having each one a harp & golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints…”  Rev. 5:8

In this passage in the Book of Revelation,  worship is represented in one hand (the harp representing worship & music) and prayer is represented in the other hand (the bowls are full of incense which represent the prayers of the people of GOD).   Often, in our prayers, we pray, ‘Lord, let Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, here on earth, as it is in Heaven’.  But what IS going on in Heaven?   According to the above passage, there is a distinct correlation between worship & prayer.  When we pray, GOD answers our prayer  (not always in our timing or according to our wishes, of course, but He always answers and He is ALWAYS good!).    When we worship, GOD inhabits our praises and He comes and fills the room with His presence.  (Psalm 22:3)

Prayer seems to flow more easily out of worship.  Probably because we get ourselves into a more appropriate attitude as we worship.  The cry of our heart often comes out during worship, like no other time.  We seek the heart of GOD.  We sing about Who He is.  We gain revelation about Him.  We cry out.  He hears us.  He answers.    It’s a simple flow that yields complex results.  As we ‘do’  the activity of Heaven, which seems very clearly to be worship if we study Revelation, we are now, in reality, being the answer to that very prayer mentioned above about bringing the Kingdom of GOD here on earth.  And when the Kingdom of GOD comes, all kinds of cool stuff happens!

Most people, whether they follow Jesus or not, have some understanding or idea of what prayer is.  Studies have shown that people in hospitals, who receive prayer, seem to heal faster.  You, yourself, have probably seen untold answers to prayer over the course of your life.  It is a valued and worthwhile endeavor to pray.  Some people even seem to have the gift of prayer, and they simply love the act of praying.  We pray for our family, our friends, our jobs or schools, our country, or the world in general.  We pray for missionaries.  We pray for people groups.  Many people are praying right now for the situation in Egypt & in the Middle East, as things become even more volatile.  We have asked you to pray for us, as we minister in Mexico, regularly feeding the poor.  Prayer is vital to our walk as Christians.  Worship is equally as vital to our walk as Followers of Christ. The Old Testament is particularly full of passages on the importance of worship!   When we put worship and prayer together, a powerful force is unleashed upon the earth.  Try it sometime!  Put on a favorite worship cd, or a cd of favorite hymns.  Sit and ask GOD to direct your prayers. Or grab your guitar and play some worship tunes…or improvise however you need to.  If you’ve never done this before, you will be amazed at the renewed depths your prayers will go, and the sense of ‘mission’ you’ll feel has been accomplished when you are done.  If you HAVE done this before, you might want to refresh yourself in it.  There are few things I do where I feel so satisfied.

May the Lord guide us in accomplishing HIS will in this day and in this time.

GOD bless you as you become a worship and prayer ‘missionary’.

Could you please add these requests to your prayer time:

1. please pray for a developing VOB vision to launch worship and intercession for the nations as described above.
2. please continue to pray for protection and safety in ministering in Mexico.
3. also please pray for Wayne’s physical health to keep up with the physical demands of the ministry.
4. praise GOD, we have had an easier time in getting food (though still limited to non-produce) across the border! Although this could change at any time, (please continue to pray) this is a HUGE answer to prayer!

Also, just as we have asked you to pray we also like to offer PRAISE for answered prayer!  It has been over a year since Wayne quit his job and focused on the Mexico mission full time.  God has supplied our need and we are grateful for those of you who committed to being part of the provision of that need.   Many of you are monthly supporters, and one of you (back home) has consistently supported us since we embarked on our full time ministry journey in 1996.  (you know who you are – thank you!). Perhaps this year, some of you may be able to commit to monthly support.  Any amount helps build our budget for Wayne to remain full time.  Again your partnership is vital both in prayer and resources!

Homeschooler assembly line = nearly 500 bagged socks and 150 personal care packs.

So grateful for the extra help to pull this off!

For our Christmas give away this year, instead of winter hats, we bought over 1500 pairs of socks.  Our dear friend Julia Cecil offered her son’s homeschool friends to help prepare the red gift bags for women and green for men.  We also made more personal care packs for those living on the streets of Tijuana.  So everyone got 3 pairs of new socks at our Tuesday night outreach, the aqueduct outreach, the elderly home, and the infirmaries.    We also had a successful toy drive – where every kid got at least one toy.  Photo’s to come perhaps next month.  Thanks for your help making this all possible!

(above) We were donated new mattresses from a cruise ship overstock.  VOB delivered over 200 twin mattresses to children’s homes, rehabs, and families who either had no mattress or in dire need of a better one

(below) My buddy Vicente built a bunk bed (for the mattresses) for the boys of one of our adopted families.  They have their own bed to themselves now.  We bought them new sheets for Christmas to go on their new bed! Wish you could have seen the smiles!